Employers serious about union avoidance might take a tip from public health professionals who know that, to stay healthy, individuals must be inoculated against contagious diseases before being exposed to them. In similar preventive fashion, employers should consider administering a dose of company union-free philosophy and reality about unionization to newly-hired employees before they begin work.
Long the approach advocated by management serious about maintaining a union-free workforce, educating employees about the facts of unionization remains one of the best hedges against a union sneak attack on an unaware work force. Rather than being a tired approach, preventive training is a tried and true tool to keep your work force union-free. As the recent article "Employers' Biggest Legal Mistakes" from the online publication Workforce Week reminds us, "Employers must constantly communicate with their employees to deal with their grievances. If employees do not believe their employer is interested in their issues, they may look outside the workplace for representation." (Included in the article's "Top Ten" list of legal mistakes is "Failing to retain labor and employment counsel to avoid making the first nine mistakes.")
Among the first tasks of a union organizer is soliciting employees to sign union authorization cards. All too often, uninformed employees are easy prey for these union sales representatives. Employees who lack information regarding the legal significance of signing a union card may be drawn in by an organizer's sales pitch or by peer pressure, and unwittingly sign a union card. Unless employees have been educated about the power a signed card gives to the union, they may regard it casually and sign it without appreciating its significance.
Employees who have been educated about union organizing and authorization cards and who understand the legal significance of a signed card are less likely to be lured casually into signing one. To prevent the risk of uninformed card signing, employers should consider discussing union authorization cards as part of the new employee orientation process. Use a sample union authorization card as a teaching tool so employees know what a card looks like and what it means legally to sign one.
For More Information Contact:
|
Howard M. Bloom Partner Boston Office 75 Park Plaza 4th Floor Boston, MA 02116 BloomH@jacksonlewis.com Phone: (617) 367-0025 Fax: (617) 367-2155 |
Patrick L. Egan Partner Boston Office 75 Park Plaza 4th Floor Boston, MA 02116 EganP@jacksonlewis.com Phone: (617) 367-0025 Fax: (617) 367-2155 |
Article Website Address:
http://www.jacksonlewis.com/legalupdates/article.cfm?aid=474